Challenge:

A community at risk

Like many rural communities, Bashaw faced a shrinking population and economic base. The agricultural community copes with aging farmers and a succeeding generation that questions the viability of farming operations.

With a significantly lower than average provincial income, and higher incidence of single parent families and transiency, there existed significant tension between social institutions as they struggled to survive diminishing funding sources.

Traditional planning initiatives consistently presented the same environmental scan and SWOT analysis over and over, with the implementation of outcomes rarely coming to fruition.

Solution:

A hidden mindset, discovered and dealt with

Members of the community of Bashaw were invited to attend a ‘Future of Bashaw’ workshop in May, 2012. There was no cost to attend and everyone was welcome either as an individual or organization. There were twenty intergenerational participants, many of whom were leaders within the community. Representation came from diverse backgrounds including the municipality, school administration, social services, senior service organizations, enterprise, adult learning and faith community.  

The workshop was facilitated by Unstoppable Conversations using a process of discovery that helped community members to see what they previously could not.

Faced with not only “can we thrive” but “can we even survive” participants discovered the group blindspot:

“I won’t come. It’s not safe. My ideas will get shot down. It won’t work anyway, so I’ll wait for it to fail and then come in and do it my way, the right way.”

The survival mindset was distinguished on the first day of the session and became a turning point in the process. One by one the participants began to recognize the resigned, fearful, protective, scarce frame of mind they operated from. They learned that unless their way of thinking was disrupted – no tips, tools, facilitations, motivation or even new resources and money, would ever make a real difference.

It was suddenly clear why collaborations were failing, partnerships weren’t happening, and burnout was ruling the day.

Results:

Incredible breakthroughs

Within months a decades-old rift with the school was healed, new partnerships with neighboring communities were created, they won “best small town in Alberta” and held a ground-breaking fundraiser.

The school came off the shut-down list with a 10-year expansion plan that was full after one year, raising $1M with zero government money.

Their social infrastructure is so ground-breaking that other communities are coming to them for their model. Even with the onset of Covid-19, agencies are coming to high-risk stakeholders with solutions before those stakeholders even know they need it.

Between 2016 and 2020, the RCMP reported reduction in crime: 47% for persons, 37% for property and 40% for other criminal code, youth crime charges dropped from 37 to 0.

Professional estimates state the Return on Investment (ROI) to be 30:1

“The most profound change wasn’t structural—it was linguistic. People stopped saying, “We can’t,” and started asking, “What if?” They stopped looking up for permission and started looking beside them for partnership. That shift—from passive to proactive, from isolated to interconnected—ignited something much larger.”

- Jackie Northey, Bashaw Town Councillor, Northern Lights Award Recipient